Melting the ice
by MimiYamatoForever
Summary: After two hundred years, everyone in Sanctuary learns that there may have been survivors from the last Holy War. But it all relies on Seiya's memories as Tenma.
1. Chapter 1

Melting the ice

By: MimiYamatoForever

The Aquarius temple was quiet and calm like it always was. The two ice saints inside the temple were quiet and were just relaxing as they both looked through a few boxes that were located in a hidden location in the palace.

DeathMask had found the hidden compartment by accident in the palace and found four boxes inside filled with different books. Since Camus loved to read the boxes were given to him to look through and Hyoga volunteered to help his mentor.

The young swan saint was amazed at how old some of the books in the boxes were. They looked to be dozens of years old with faded covers and faded pages.

The first few books Hyoga had looked through were just maps and charts that had been used by pope's before Shion. He was organizing stacks of books in which some may be kept or tossed into the trash. Most likely he would ask Shion if there was anything he wanted to keep.

Looking through the box Hyoga pulled out a small book with a faded blue cover. It was smaller than the other books and had a white winged horse on the cover.

This caught Hyoga's attention right away and caused him to look inside it. Looking at the first page Hyoga realized that this wasn't a regular book he was holding.

It was a journal.

A journal belonging to none other than the famed Pegasus Tenma.

Seiya's previous life.

Hyoga recognized the handwriting right away. It was the exact same as Seiya's. Being the reincarnation of himself, Seiya might recognize the journal right away if he saw it.

Hyoga decided to go find his friend since he would feel bad looking through the book. Even though Seiya had it over two hundred years ago it was still his and it would be wrong to read someone else's journal.

After telling Camus where he would be, Hyoga took off to the Sagittarius temple where he quickly found Seiya and Aiolos in the living room. Aiolos was stringing together a new bow and Seiya was crashed out on the couch.

"Hello Hyoga." Aiolos greeted kindly.

"Hello Aiolos." Hyoga greeted back with a bow of respect.

"What's that you got there?" the archer asked curiously spotting the journal in Hyoga's hand.

"A journal that belonged to Seiya when he was Tenma." Hyoga answered and lightly slapped Seiya's arm. The brunette boy woke with start from being slapped.

"Wha? It wasn't me this time." He muttered still half asleep.

"Seiya, look what I found." Hyoga said waving the book in front of Seiya.

The Pegasus saint looked at the book carefully before looking back to Hyoga.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You don't recognize it?"

"No. Why?"

"Because this belonged to you when you were Tenma."

"What? Are you sure?" Seiya asked taking the book.

"It says so inside the cover. It was your journal."

"I don't remember having a journal back then." Seiya said opening the cover to see the name _Pegasus Tenma _written there in _his_ handwriting.

"Your memories must be faded being from so long ago." Aiolos suggested putting his bow to the side.

"No, it can't be. I remember everything else from my past life. Why would I forget about this?" Seiya asked looking through the pages then chuckled at one of the entries.

"This was definitely mine." he said. "Listen to this. 'Dohko-sensei has no idea that I snuck out of the temple last night and met up with the other trainees. We went to a huge bonfire in the village near Sanctuary that was a celebration of the day Sasha arrived in Greece even though she arrived the day before. I was having the time of my life dancing around and having fun until I saw Rasgado heading toward the bonfire. His students and I ran off before he saw us but I had the feeling that he already knew we were there. We managed to get back to Sanctuary before he did but guess who we ran into sneaking back in? Yep, Degel. He threatened to tell Rasgado, Dohko and even Sasha but we managed to come to an agreement. We had to scrub the floors of his temple right then in exchange for him to keep quiet. Do you have any idea how cold it is in that temple? The water in the buckets practically froze every time that we took them into the temple. It took nearly four hours to clean those floors but it was worth it for Degel to keep quiet. But I think that Dohko found out since the bonfire was the talk around Sanctuary and I was dead tired during training. Needless to say, I think he smacked me around on purpose as punishment for sneaking off. Boy did I learn my lesson although I'm sure I'll do it again.'"

"Definitely you Seiya." Hyoga claimed.

"Did Dohko ever really find out?" Aiolos asked as Seiya started to flip through the pages again.

"He sure did." Seiya answered. "I have to clean the Libra temple from top to bottom for a week because of that little stunt."

"Harsh." Hyoga commented.

"I wonder why I don't remember having this journal." He said as he came to the last page that had an entry and his eyes went wide before he shut the book quickly. "Now I remember."

"What is it?"

"Sorry. Can't say. Gotta see Athena." Seiya replied getting up and running out of the temple with great speed.

"What was that about?" Hyoga asked.

"Must be something that he wasn't suppose to remember." Aiolos suggested. "Where did you find that book?"

"It was in a few boxes in a hidden compartment that DeathMask had found in the palace. Camus and I were looking through the boxes and I found it there." Hyoga explained.

"Let's follow him and see if he's alright." Aiolos said and the two started running after Seiya who was only one temple ahead of them.

[][][]

_Why didn't they burn this thing?_ Seiya shouted in his mind. _I wasn't suppose to remember having this journal! The last entry could get me in huge trouble._

Running into the palace, Seiya quickly ran to the throne room where he found Athena and Shion.

"Lady Athena. Pope Shion. Big trouble." Seiya shouted running over and bowing to them.

"What is it Seiya?" Athena asked.

"Look what Hyoga found." Seiya answered holding up the old journal.

"Seiya!"

The three looked over to see Hyoga, Aiolos and even Camus running over.

"What's going on?" Shion asked.

"The short version is that this journal can't be read." Seiya answered. "It was an order you gave me in the past."

"What is it about Seiya?" Athena asked.

"Uh...well..."

"Seiya, you can tell us. If it happened in the past then there shouldn't be anything to worry about." Athena assured the young saint.

"Well...the last entry in here is about Aquarius Degel." Seiya answered opening the journal to the last page. "Should I read it?"

"Yes." they all answered.

Seiya nodded and started reading the journal entry.

"Sad to say that this is going to be the last time I will ever write in this journal. Something happened yesterday that really gave everyone in Sanctuary a reason to worry. Degel and Kardia never returned from their mission to Bluegraad. They were suppose to look for people to help us in the war against Alone but they've been missing ever since and no one has been able to find them. It's been nearly two weeks that they've been missing and Sasha is really worried about them since it looks like the worst has happened. I don't want to tell her but I had a vision about Degel. He met with his friend named Prince Unity and was taken to Atlantis. Unity tried to use his sister's body to revive Poseidon but Degel wouldn't allow it and used his cosmo to seal Atlantis inside an ice coffin. He was still trapped inside with a woman named Princess Seraphina and will be there until someone eventually finds Atlantis. I wish that I could dive into those waters and revive Degel but I couldn't last long with how cold the water is and my cosmo isn't strong enough to break the greatest ice coffin ever made. I keep having visions of Degel speaking to me saying that he's still alive and waiting for us to find him. But everyone thinks I'm loosing it. It seems that Degel is fated to forever stay trapped in Atlantis inside the ice coffin."

Seiya closed the book and looked up to see everyone look rather surprised.

"All this time..." Shion said quietly. "We never knew what happened to Degel and Kardia."

"What was assumed of them?" Aiolos asked quietly.

"We had heard that they had a run in with Rhadamanthys but we just assumed they had gone down fighting." Shion answered walking over and taking the journal from Seiya. "I knew about this journal that Tenma wrote in and because of the last entry I ordered someone to destroy it because he was claiming that Degel was still alive. He was close to being called insane and that would have made him lose his cloth and sainthood. The journal and several other things were destroyed by one of the Gold Saints. I never thought I'd see this journal again. Tenma had come to all of us claiming that Degel was still alive somewhere. But the way he had phrased it made it seem like his mind was slipping away. He said, and I remember it so well, 'Degel is still alive. Sleeping in the ice of Atlantis'."

"Guess I should have thought my words out a little better." Seiya said sheepishly.

"Because we believed his sanity was fading, I ordered the book to be destroyed and Lady Sasha blocked all the memories Tenma had of ever having the journal and of all the visions he had of Degel. We never heard about it again."

"Told you I wasn't crazy." Seiya declared skeptically.

"You were under too much stress back then. That's what we blamed it all on." Shion replied. "Had we known that you may have been right then we would have done something about it."

"Can't we do something now?" Hyoga asked.

"Even if we were able to find Degel there's really no chance of getting him out of the ice coffin. Not even all twelve Gold Saints can break it. Even then, it's sure to say that we wouldn't be able to revive him since he's been inside it for more than two hundred years." Shion said.

"But remember that Shiryu got Hyoga out of the coffin using one of Dohko's swords. Maybe we could try it again."

"That could be the only way but unless you had a vision of where Atlantis is I'm sure that we wouldn't be able to find Degel."

"Wrong again. I did have a vision and I even wrote it down." Seiya replied snatching the journal back and looked at the very last page in the journal.

He turned it around and ever saw a list on one side and a map on another page.

"I kept having visions about where Degel would be. It was almost like something was showing me the way to Atlantis and to where Degel still is." Seiya stated.

"Seiya, the thought of having Degel back again sounds too good to be true. Even though we have ways to find him and break him out of the ice, there's no way that we could revive his soul." Athena said.

"What if we talk to Shun?" Hyoga suggested.

"He might allow it." Aiolos said. "Degel never really died and, if Seiya's visions were right, his body will still be well preserved."

"I think Shun will allow it." Seiya declared.

"Very well. We can at least try." Athena said. "Hyoga, can you speak with Shun about finding Degel's soul?"

"I sure can." Hyoga replied happily.

"Seiya, tell us what you remember about the directions to Atlantis." Shion said.

"Right."

"By the way, who was the saint ordered to destroy the journal?" Aiolos asked curiously with a look of thought on his handsome face.

"Libra Dohko." Shion answered. "Apparently my old friend believed his once pupil that Degel was still alive and believed this situation may take place in later times."

[][][]

Because Shun was in the Underworld so much he never really had time to come visit everyone in Sanctuary and none of them felt too comfortable walking around a place with countless dead souls and so many horrible prisons.

It was enough to go through the Underworld once and they were sure they didn't want to do it again.

Because of those reasons, Shun had created a special viewing mirror and Athena had it placed in a secret chamber in the palace. Only she, the Gold saints and the Bronze saints knew the location and how to summon Shun.

Right now Hyoga was in the chamber standing before the full body mirror. He was only able to see his reflection now but soon it would be showing his friend.

"Lord Shun of the Underworld. God of the dead. I, Cygnus Hyoga, am requesting your presence."

Not even a second after he spoke those words, Hyoga saw the glass of the mirror turn black and dark green flames appeared. They soon took shape and cleared for Hyoga to see his old friend.

"Hello Hyoga." Shun greeted.

Hyoga smiled seeing one of his closest friends and noticed that Shun looked to have matured a bit more since the last time they spoke. Now he looked as mature as Shiryu.

"Hello Shun." Hyoga greeted back with a small bow.

"Did you need something?" Shun asked.

"Yeah actually." Hyoga answered. "Listen, we found a journal that belonged to Seiya in his previous life and we learned that Aquarius Degel is still alive. Sort of. He's been frozen in an ice coffin in Atlantis this whole time. Athena wants to try to locate and bring him back but the thing is...his soul may be...well..."

"His soul is here in the Underworld." Shun answered.

"It is?" Hyoga gasped.

"Yes but he's trapped in the realm frequently called 'limbo'." Shun explained. "I've heard rumors from the judges of what happened to him and because his body was never really laid to rest his soul was doomed to wander around in limbo for all eternity. I've seen him there a few times as well. Every time though I've seen him holding the hand of a woman. Apparently she was with him when he was sealed in the ice coffin. Tell Athena that if they manage to retrieve Degel's body, I'll be more than glad to allow his soul to return."

"Really? You will?" Hyoga asked excitedly.

Shun nodded with a smile.

Hyoga kneeled and bowed his head to his friend. "Thank you Shun." he said.

[][][]

Having heard the ok from Shun, Athena had set into motion a plan of going to Atlantis to find the frozen kingdom.

While everything was being set into place, she and Seiya were in the throne room as Seiya read pages to her from his old journal. Some of the entries had been while he was in Sanctuary and some were times before.

"Here's another." Seiya claimed with a smile. "Dear journal. Sasha will totally kill me once she finds out what happened to her favorite doll. Alone had been showing me how to paint people's faces when we were out in the meadow and I thought I would give Sasha a little scare with her doll. I borrowed some of Alone's paint and one of his brushes and started to paint the dolls face. I made a little mistake and tried to wash it off only to find for the thread holding the dolls head started tearing. I panicked and tried to fix it but I have no artist or sewing skills and ended up ripping the head off altogether. I took the doll and hid it where Sasha wouldn't find it and I tried to find her another doll. I eventually got a hold of one and gave it to her. Naturally she was suspicious when I gave her the new doll and it didn't take long for her to find out what had happened. I apologized but she didn't talk to me for a week straight."

"So that's what happened to it." Athena claimed.

"Sorry." Seiya said.

"Don't worry Seiya. I liked the new one you had found for me." Athena said then turned serious. "Do you remember exactly how to find Atlantis?"

Seiya looked up from his journal to see the hope in her eyes. "I do." he answered in the same tone. "I had so many visions about it that I would have to be blind to miss anything. It had felt like Degel's soul was leading me toward Atlantis so someone would know that he was there. Every time I saw in lying in that ice he was with that princess. Seraphina. She must have been with him when Degel froze the kingdom. There's a chance that she's still alive too."

"But Shun is only allowing for Degel's soul to return." Athena reminded. "If she was an important person to Degel then when he revives we may have to let him know that we couldn't help her."

Seiya looked back at his now closed journal. He had never really gotten along with Degel in the past but they were still saints after all and there had to be another reason why he was getting those visions of where Degel was and what happened to him.

Maybe the former Aquarius wanted to get another message through to him but because his memories were erased he could never succeed.

Hopefully their voyage would be successful and they could bring Degel back.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

By: MimiYamatoForever

Seiya felt incredibly excited but at the same time just as nervous. A ship was being filled with supplies for the voyage he was going to take with a few others in hopes of finding Atlantis and their friend from the past.

Hyoga and Camus had instantly agreed to go since their powers would be needed and they both wanted to meet the previous Aquarius saint.

Seiya knew that the journal he held in his hands and his memories were the only ways of finding Atlantis and Degel. He felt sure that he would lead the voyage correctly since he had had many visions of being lead to the underwater kingdom.

He was certain that Degel's spirit had been trying to tell him that he was still alive somewhere but, because his memories of the event were erased by Athena, the chance to find him never happened.

In one day they were going to set sail and find Degel.

Since the agreement to find Degel had taken place, Seiya had just been reading through his old journal. He smiled fondly at the times he had back then.

He turned another page in the little book and read what he had written all those years ago.

_Journal,_

_I found out today that I have something called a cosmo. After I broke the dam earlier, a man named Dohko brought me back to the village where he explained to me what a cosmo is. He wants me to go with him to a place called Sanctuary so I can learn to make my cosmo stronger. He says that he can tell I've master my cosmo and he thinks that I could possibly become a saint for the goddess Athena._

_It all sounds overwhelming right now but I'm sure that I won't regret it in the long run._

_The only part that I'm regreting is that I'm leaving Alone all by himself. He was depressed enough when Sasha was adopted. Now I'm leaving. He was so sad when I told him I was going with Dohko. _

_He painted my picture but couldn't finish it because he said he didn't have the right color for my eyes. So we made a promise. If I become a saint I would return to Italy so he can finish the painting and he promised to become a great artist._

_I always thought that he was a great artist and I can't wait to see him again. _

_I'm really going to miss him._

"I still do." Seiya muttered closing the journal with a sigh.

After more than two hundred years, he still misses his best friend.

[_**Aquarius temple**_]

Hyoga had finished packing his bag and laid it at the foot of his bed. They weren't due to leave for another few days but he wanted to be ready ahead of time.

He was really excited about this trip. If all went well then he would soon be meeting the famed Degel of Aquarius. The most intellegent of all the Gold Saints in his time.

Not much hadn't changed in Sanctuary so Hyoga knew that Degel wouldn't have trouble learning his way around.

He was so excited that he thought he wouldn't be able to sleep until they were on the ship heading for Atlantis.

Knowing that Camus would crack the ice whip on him if he didn't sleep, Hyoga decided read one of the many books that they had found with Seiya's old journal.

Shion had gone by earlier and had taken all of the missing star charts and books that belonged on Star Hill. Milo had even gone by and found a book that had belonged to Kardia. Unfortunately, it was a book about what was known about heart conditions.

Milo hadn't known about the heart condition Kardia had but Shion had informed to Scorpio of all he wanted to know about the previous Scorpio saint.

Milo had felt amazed learning about Kardia and how he had fallen trying to save Degel's friend Prince Unity. He was even more amazed when he learned that his death was never confirmed.

It was then that Milo had a statement saying that there might be a possible chance that he got caught in the Ice Coffin when it was being made and that he was still there with Degel and Seraphina.

Not wanting to get Milo's hopes up, Shion had asked him to return to his temple to rest for the voyage.

The previous pope had hoped that maybe Milo was onto something.

Kardia never was found after saving Unity. Their only clue was his red nail that Unity had when he regained consciousness.

Deep down, everyone was hoping that there was possibility of Kardia being trapped in the Ice Coffin as well.

If he was they felt sure that they would be able to bring him back as well. If Shun allowed his soul to return that is.

Opening the book to the first page, Hyoga tried to concentrate on the words on the pages. If Camus suspected he didn't sleep at all then the ice whip would be cracked for sure.

[_**Morning-Sagittarius temple**_]

Aiolos walked into the kitchen of the temple and started to make some breakfast. He knew that he could take his time as he did every morning since Seiya wouldn't be up until the food was nearly finished.

Although he had a feeling that this morning Seiya would sleep in a little late. He had heard the young Pegasus saint further reading his old journal last night but he expected it.

He was sure that Seiya was remembering old times as Tenma.

Seiya had even read a few pages to him about having met some of the other Gold Saints before and after the war had started.

The only one that he hadn't been able to meet was Sisyphus, the previous Sagittarius saint. Alive at least.

Seiya had written in the journal that he knew that Sisyphus had been trapped in the world of dreams when Alone had reversed his gold arrow to strike back at him. It wasn't until El Cid freed Sisyphus from the dream realm that Tenma finally met him.

Aiolos didn't make Seiya feel sorry that he didn't know more about Sisyphus. He never got a good chance to meet him in the past like he did with a few of the other Gold Saints.

It would be amazing if Degel could be brought back to Sanctuary. He could tell all of them about the previous saints, about Athena, Shion and Dohko in the past...

It would be like the past has been brought to their time.

[_**Palace**_]

Shion had walked down a hallway that held paintings of the Gold Saints from the past. He had gone there to look at the painting that was done before the previous war. When he had been the Gold Aries Saint.

He looked at the painting of saints from the past. His commrad and friends in arms.

They were all so different from each other but at the same time they were similar.

The painting had to be done by the painters memory since some of the previous saints weren't for having their portraits painted. Albifica and Manigoldo most of all. Kardia could never stay still long enough for the artist to get the outlining done and Asmita almost never left his temple.

The painting was done regardless and came out quite nicely.

"Remembering old times my friend?" a voice asked.

Shion looked over and smiled when he saw Dohko walking over.

"I am. Especially when Kardia kept goofing around when the painting was trying to be made." the former Aries saint replied.

"You knew Kardia. He was almost exactly like Milo. Stubborn, hot headed, the prankster of the Gold Saints...But he could make us laugh at times." Dohko said.

"Dohko, I wish to be honest right now." Shion said looking back at the painting. "I am hoping that Seiya is right and Degel is in Atlantis but I'm also hoping that what Milo said may be a possibility."

"That Kardia somehow got caught in the Ice Coffin Degel created around Atlantis?"

Shion nodded.

"To be honest Shion, I was thinking the same thing." Dohko confessed. "We never knew what happened to him after what Unity explained to us. We never found either one of them. I know that Seiya wouldn't lie about something like this. I know that we'll find Degel but I'm also hoping that we find Kardia there as well."

"It would being me peace of mind if we knew what happened to him. If he cannot be revived then I would feel a little better knowing where he has been all these years." Shion said.

"If we do find Kardia there with Degel, I hope that Shun will allow his soul to return to his body. I'm sure he will since Hyoga explained everything to him and he agreed to allow Degel and Seraphina to return."

"I think Shun will allow it if we find Kardia there." Shion said.

Dohko nodded and with a small sigh suggested that they should return to the throne room before Athena arrived.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

By: MimiYamatoForever

The day had quickly gone by and it was already the night before the departure. The ship that would take them on their voyage was heavily supplied and set for sailing in the morning.

Seiya had gone through the past pages of his long lost journal and was currently on his way to the palace to speak with Shion.

He was feeling incredibly nervous about this trip and needed to have his mind settled. Aiolos had already turned in for the night otherwise Seiya would have gone to him.

The palace only had a few lit windows and the young saint hoped that Shion hadn't gone to bed yet. He walked into the foyer and went straight to the throne room. The guarding soldiers opened the two doors for him and shut them when he walked through.

The Pegasus saint smiled in relief when he saw Shion standing near a window. He walked over and kneeled to the older man.

"Seiya? I thought you had gone to bed by now." Shion exclaimed.

"I know that I should be but I wished to have a word with you first. If it's not too much trouble or you want to go to bed yourself."

"I'll be up for a while, believe me. What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, it's about our departure to find Degel tomorrow." Seiya started. "I'm starting to have second thoughts about it."

"Why is that?"

"Well, what if those visions were just realistic dreams? What if I had been in so much...denial about losing more friends back then that my mind just made up something to ease my nerves? I'm thinking about asking Athena to call the search off."

"Seiya, when you were Tenma did you believe that those 'dreams' were visions of your friend trying to tell you where he was located?"

"Yes."

"And do you want to find out if those visions are true or not?"

"Yes."

"Then what harm is it to try?"

"I'm afraid that I might be wrong." Seiya answered looking at his journal. "I don't want to get everyone's hopes up only for them to find out that I may have been wrong the entire time. I don't want to take them all the way to the middle of the ocean to learn that Atlantis may not even exist anymore."

"Technically, Atlantis doesn't exist anymore." Shion stated. "The city _may_ still be there because Degel froze the entire city in the Ice Coffin but as far as we know Seraphina may be the only Atlantian left. The once proud city ended the day that Degel had to stop Poseidon from using Seraphina's body to ressurect."

"Yeah, but finding Degel is what's got me worked up." Seiya admitted. "I really hope that my visions really were visions sent by Degel trying to tell me where he is."

"Seiya, you and I both know how Degel was. His personality was almost exactly like Camus'. He was never one for playing jokes on others. I'm sure that we both know he wouldn't do something like that to you, especially with something as serious as trying to tell you his location. Go back to the Sagittarius temple and try to rest. Don't worry about thinking you may be wrong. The others support you and so do I. I can't tell you how hopeful I am to see one of my good friends again."

"Great. One more hopeful spirit." Seiya muttered before quickly bowing to the former Aries saint and taking his leave.

Shion lightly smiled.

"After two hundred years, he still hates to disappoint the people around him." he said to himself before heading to his own chambers to rest.

[_**Morning**_]

It was very early in the morning. The sky was still dark and the stars were still out as soldiers and saints started to board the large ship.

Seiya was going to be leading the voyage and he was going to have a great amount of help from others that were going along. The saints that had agreed or volunteered to go on this journey were Aiolos, Camus, Shura, Milo, Dohko, Mu, Hyoga, Shiryu, Shina, Marin and various other saints and soldiers.

Athena even had a few mini submarine pods brought over so that Seiya and the others would be able to go into the waters to properly locate Atlantis.

Seiya was feeling both excited and nervous. He was excited that he may finally be able to help Degel after being frozen for more than two hundred years but he was nearvous because his doubts were still present.

He was really hoping that his visions were right and not just trying to relieve him of the stress he was under back then. The war had been so chaotic that there had been a lot of things on his mind and so many things being planned in order to stop the Lost Canvas from being completed.

Seiya walked onto the ship and right away went toward the large steering wheel that Camus would handling while they sailed.

"Hey Seiya!"

The Pegasus looked around for who had shouted to him.

"Up here!" another voice yelled.

Seiya looked up toward the crow's nest and saw Shiryu and Hyoga waving down to him.

"I knew you guys were coo-coo." Seiya joked trying to relax a little.

"You should see the view from up here." Shiryu declared.

"And you should tell Shunrei how you feel." Seiya replied and saw Shiryu duck from sight most likely due to embarrassment and the knowledge that Seiya was right.

"That was mean Seiya." Hyoga called.

"I'm a jerk remember?" Seiya replied and started kept walking. He saw Camus standing at the large wooden wheel with a few maps set on a small table next to him.

"What is Hyoga doing up there?" Camus asked as soon as Seiya reached him.

"Trying to act like a real bird I guess." Seiya answered searching through his bag for his journal.

Camus didn't look like be believed the joke but Seiya already knew that he wouldn't. Camus wasn't exactly like his best friend, Milo, who was playing jokes almost every day of the week.

Seiya pulled out his journal and fliped it open to the last page where he had the map and directions to get to Atlantis.

"So, what direction are we going to be heading in?" Camus asked taking one of the maps to look at it.

"We're going to head toward the South Atlantic Ocean. The location of Atlantis is just a few miles away from Antarctica." Seiya answered.

"That's going to take about a day or two to reach." Camus noted writing a few notes on a notepad he had brought.

"Well once we're in that area the directions will have to come from memory because no map can give us the exact location. There will be a few landmarks along the way so that will be helpful but there are going to be a few traps to get by." Seiya said.

"That's good to know. You remember everything? Entrance, location of the traps...?"

"Everything little thing." Seiya answered. "I had that vision so many times that I could remember the wave patterns."

"Well, just remember this. If all goes well, you're finally rescuing one of your friends."

Seiya lightly smiled.

Camus was right. He hadn't been able to go help Degel because no one believed him and he didn't have a way of diving into the freezing waters. He surely would have drowned and froze to death.

Now he was finally able to do something. He could finally break Degel out of that frozen prison and bring him back home.

Maybe Seraphina could come back with him. With the undersea kingdom practically extinct, there wasn't any reason for her to stay in Atlantis. She could stay in Sanctuary with them if Athena allowed it.

Then there was the chance of Kardia.

What if he had somehow managed to reach Atlantis when the Ice Coffin was being made? What if he was in there with Degel and the princess? Would they find two past Gold Saints instead of one?

Seiya was hoping they would find Degel and he was also hoping that Kardia was there with him. Maybe he never had any visions sent by Kardia because he barely managed to get into the ice when it was being formed. Or maybe it was because Degel was the saint of ice and that allowed his cosmo to be strong enough to send the visions and he simply didn't know if Kardia was there or not.

_The sea is going to be calm when we leave but I know that it's not going to be very smooth sailing._ Seiya thought.

Fifteen minutes had passed and the ship was ready to sail. The passengers on the ship were waving farewell to the people on land as the ship started to drift into the sea.

They all kept their eyes on Greece until the land was no longer in sight.

"Hyoga, Shiryu, the both of you can be the watchmen since you're already up there." Milo shouted to the two teens.

"Aye aye captain!" The two agreed with a salute.

"Wise guys." Milo muttered.

"You should know about it very well then shouldn't you?" Shura asked.

"Good thing it's morning Shura." Milo stated acting cool.

"Why?" Shura asked suspiciously.

"You won't have to sleep with your eyes open." came the answer.

"Milo never knows when to quit." Aiolos stated joining Seiya and Camus.

"Of course not." Camus declared. "You should have seen him when I first met him. I was his test subject for every prank he came up with. That was when we were still teenagers."

"Guess you got use to his tricks then." Aiolos guessed.

"And tricked _him_ a few times to teach him a lesson." Camus added.

"I'm staying on your good side." Seiya declared.

"You better." Camus joked then shouted. "Hyoga. Shiryu. How does the sea look?"

"Smoothing sailing." Hyoga called back as Shiryu looked through a silver handheld telescope. "We've completely cleared Grecian territory and the wind is starting to get faster."

"We should get the sails open and travel by the wind for as long as we can." Camus stated.

"I'll get the others and we can open them." Aiolos volunteered and went down onto the deck calling a few people to help with the sails.

"Are we going to make any stops along the way to Antarctica?" Seiya asked.

"Maybe one stop to allow everyone to rest a little." Camus answered. "I can manage the ship for that long. You should go relax for a while. I'll call you if I need anything."

"Alright." Seiya agreed and decided to go ahead and join Shiryu and Hyoga in the crow's nest. He climbed up the rope ladder and finally reached the nest.

"Hey guys." he greeted climbing in.

"Glad you decided to join us." Hyoga stated.

"Well, Camus said that he can manage the ship on the way to Antarctica but we're going to make a stop along the way to let everyone rest up."

"Want some breakfast?" the swan asked motioning to the small gather of food they had.

"I better not. I can get sea sick at times and I doubt the people under us will be very forgiving."

"Wimp." Hyoga joked looking through the telescope.

"Where exactly is Atlantis located anyway?" Shiryu asked.

Seiya opened his journal to last page where the landmark list was.

"From what I remember, once we get to Antarctica there's going to be a cave that'll be big enough for the ship to go in. We're going to sail through the cave for about a mile and then we'll come into an opening with another path that we'll have to use the subs since the path is underwater. From there it's about another three miles until were nearly directly under the continent. At that point I have to remember directions from landmark locations. It'll take a while but I'm sure that we can locate Atlantis pretty quickly.

"Think that we can cut through the ice cave to get above Atlantis and figure something out from there?" Shiryu asked.

"I think we could." Seiya answered. "As long as the ice isn't too thick I think we could find a way to dig through and get exactly above the location. Maybe from there we can find a way to get others to go with us and find a way to break Degel out of the ice."

"Maybe using Dohko's weapson can be the only way to break the ice." Hyoga stated.

"It's our only chance." Shiryu agreed. "Who do you want to go with you into the subs?"

"Well I'm definately going to need Hyoga and Camus to go."

"Camus and I can use the air tanks to swim through the water since we can both survive in such cold water." Hyoga stated. "That way you can take more people if you need to."

"Alright." Seiya agreed. "Dohko will definately need to go since he remembers Degel more than I do. He could spot him easily and you've got good sight too Shiryu."

"Fine with me." Shiryu said. "Maybe we can give the other coordinates and they can start diging through the ice wall."

"Sounds like a plan." Seiya stated.

The three saints continued to talk about other things as the sky was starting to turn soft orange, red and yellow colors.

The sun was starting to rise and the stars were fading from sight. The winds picked up more and filled the sails causing the ship to sails quickly and smoothly. If the wind kept this way then they would make it to Antarctica in a little over a day.

[][][]

The sails of the ship were brought up to slow the speed down. An island had been spotted and everyone agreed to rest for a while.

Seiya, Shiryu and Hyoga climbed down the rope ladder, put on warm coats and went to the front of the ship as the island came closer into view. It was heavily covered with trees that were covered with a light layer of snow.

The temperature had become very cold and a slight fog had appeared but it was still very easy to see through.

Camus expertly brought the ship close to shore and the anchor was thrown over the side.

The saints and soldiers climbed off the boat and went onto the island. Some of them stood around on the still sandy beach, others left to explore the land and others went to take care of business.

Shura and Milo gathered wood from the trees and forest and Babel used his powers to light the wood. Several campfires had been made and everyone started to cook meals and stay warm.

Shiryu was making a stew that he would help Shunrei when he was still in China with her. Hyoga and Seiya thought that he made that particular dish was because they believed the dragon thought of Shunrei when he made it.

The life of a saint came with great prices.

"Alright guys. It's ready." Shiryu said pouring some stew into a bowl and handing it to Aiolos.

"Thanks Shiryu." Aiolos said taking the bowl of hot stew.

"Anytime."

Seiya got his bowl and took a bite right away. Instantly he felt the warmth of the stew spread through his body and he felt more relaxed.

He looked at the sky above them and saw that it looked rather cloudy. It was most likely going to snow soon.

That was something he remembered very well in his visions. The snow the fell was so white and there was so much of it that he almost felt like he was in the clouds.

Right then he felt a familiar feeling come to him and his minds eyes pictured something. Something from one of the many visions he had.

[][]

_It was snowing. Almost like the beginning of a huge blizzard. He felt like he was floating over the sea and land as the sight of the cave came into view._

_He flew into the cave and in seconds came to the opening where the underwater path was located._

_He flew into the water and wasn't affected by the temperature and he was still able to breath._

_He continued to flow through the waters until he finally came to the exit. _

_His eyes were focused on everything that he passed by. Rock formations, obvious plants, everything that came into sight._

_Finally, there before him appeared the large and smooth ice formation of Degel's Ice Coffin. The smooth surface of the ice had formed over the sunken city like a dome. The outlines of the city buildings could be seen in the ice._

_He drew closer and closer to the ice. He came around to what looked to be the only part of the city that wasn't frozen. An arched gateway that had been covered with seaweed, plants and sealife that managed to live so close to ice._

_Almost like he was a ghost, he passed through the ice formation and was inside the frozen city._

_Everything was still perfectly preserved and exactly as it was the day the city was frozen over two hundred years ago._

Why am I here?_ Seiya asked himself as he continued to pass through the city. As he did, he noticed that there was something standing out._

_There were people. _

There were people still here when Degel froze the city! Seiya declared.

_Half of the people looked like they hadn't known what was going when the ice was being formed or it looked like they had seen the ice coming and were trying to get away._

_There were men, women and children. But it looked like there were just a few of them. Not an entire city worths. Maybe some had escaped before they could get caught._

_He continued on and saw what must have been the grand palace. It was beautiful and by far the best preserved. He was heading toward the main entrance to palace._

Is this vision trying to tell me someting? Is Degel inside the palace?

[][]

"Seiya!"

The brunette saint snapped his eyes open and saw that Hyoga, Shiryu and the Gold Saints were looking down at him.

"Are you alright?" Shura asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"You passed out." Shiryu answered.

"huh?"

"You were eating and then spaced out before you fainted." Shura answered helping the young saint sit up.

"Were you thinking about something? You looked like you had something on your mind?" Hyoga asked.

"Well, I was thinking about something." Seiya admitted. "Actually, I think I had another vision about Degel."

"What was it?" Milo asked as the Gold Saints attention was now on Seiya.

"I think it was _where_ in Atlantis Degel might be." Seiya answered. "The vision I just had took me _inside_ the city. I saw other people there too but I was being taken to what I guess was the palace. I think Degel is somewhere inside there."

"It would make sense." Camus declared. "Usually a palace or castle is located in the center of the city it's located in. If he was in the center of the city that could have helped when he froze it."

"Then it's the palace that we're going to need to find once we get there." Dohko declared.

Shiryu gave Seiya another bowl of hot stew advising the Pegasus saint to eat before he fainted again.

Seiya started eatting as normally as he could so he wouldn't make the others worry. The whole time he ate his mind was about the vision he just had.

Was the vision right? Was Degel located inside the Atlantian palace?

It would make sence with it being the center of the city and he was with Seraphina the entire time and she is a princess.

Maybe Degel believed that a princess should be in her palace.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

By: MimiYamatoForever

The ship was sailing once more and the closer they got to Antarctica the colder the air became. Snow had started to fall shortly after the saints had started sailing again.

Hyoga and Shiryu were once again in the crow's nest keeping an eye out for anything that might come across the ships path.

Everyone on the ship was wearing warm coats since the temperature had become too cold for most of them. Camus and Hyoga were the only ones not wearing jackets since they were saints of ice and snow.

Seiya was with Camus and Milo at the ships wheel.

Milo was carefully stearing while Camus and Seiya went over the map details a little more. The only thing about finding the cave was that Seiya wasn't too sure where it exactly was.

The visions he had always jumped a few parts like when a scratched CD skips words.

Camus was trying to figure out where caves may be located around the continent. They couldn't waste their time going around the entire country since it would take way too long and he doubted that everyone on the ship would be so patient.

Seiya himself was hoping that another vision would come to him and tell him where the cave would be located. They were still about two hours away from Antarctica and Camus was doing his best to try to find any possible location of caves on the maps he had but wasn't coming up with much.

_Degel,_ Seiya thought. _If your cosmo or spirit can hear my thoughts, please let me know where the cave entrance is. I don't know where it is._

He sat down on a barrel next to the railing and looked at his list of the landmarks.

The only thing not listed was how to find the cave. Just how to get to Atlantis through the underwater path.

_Of all the bad luck._ Seiya thought to himself and suddenly felt himself grow sleepy.

He lightly shook his head trying to shake the sleepiness off him. He tried looking at his map again only to feel his eyelids grow heavy again.

Before he realized it, his eyes had completely closed and he drifted off.

[][]

_This again. Seiya thought looking down to see the ship with everyone on it. He even saw himself on the upper deck with Milo and Camus. He looked like he had past out and fell to the floor since the two Gold Saints were rushing over to him._

_Suddenly, an invisible force started to pull him ahead of the ship. He started to float farther away from this vessel his friends were on and he started to see land up ahead. _

_But the force that was bringing him here started taking him another way. _

_Now Seiya found himself floating toward a gathering of icebergs. The towers of ice were small in numbers and looked like they could be easily removed if need be._

_The young Pegasus found himself coming closer to the icebergs until he started to pass through them. Once again he felt like he was a ghost._

_As soon as he cleared through the icebergs he felt greatly relieved when he saw the entrance of the cave._

_Thanks Degel. Seiya thought to himself as he felt like he was coming out of a dream._

[][]

"Seiya! Wake up!"

Seiya snapped his eyes open and he realized that he was on the floor of the ship with Camus, Degel and Aiolos looking down at him with concern.

"Are you alright?" Aiolos asked helping him sit up.

"Yeah." Seiya answered. "Did I pass out again?"

"Sure did." Milo answered. "You've been doing that a lot lately."

"Sorry." Seiya apologized standing up.

Just then a few small snowflakes landed in his eyes and he quickly rubbed them away. As soon as he did more snow started to fly into his face.

"Look at that." Milo declared quickly rushing back over to the wheel of the ship.

Seiya looked up and rushed over to Milo's side. He gasped when he saw what it was Milo was referring to.

A small but clear path of snow was flowing through the air and straight to them. It was flowing in a clean path from the right of them.

"Hyoga. Shiryu. Can you guys see where that snow is coming from?" Seiya called.

"It's coming from behind some icebergs." Shiryu answered.

"Icebergs?" Milo repeated uncertain.

Seiya's eyes went wide with realization.

"We have to go that way." he declared pushing Milo aside and turning the wheel. The ship made a sharp turn and caused almost everyone to fall.

"Seiya, what are you doing?" Aiolos asked hurrying over.

"The cave entrance is behind those icebergs." Seiya answered.

"Are you sure?" Camus asked.

"Pretty sure." Seiya answered. "We just need to get past them."

"Shura! Babel!" Aiolos shouted. "Quick! Clear those icebergs up ahead!"

The Gold and Silver saint quickly obeyed and rushed to the side of the ship.

Shura raised his right arm as it started to glow gold light.

"Excalibur!"

Instantly, he flicked his right arm and the straight beam of gold light went straight for the towers of ice. The light hit the first three icebergs, completely breaking them to pieces.

Babel readied his attack next.

"Fire Whirlpool!"

The fire flew straight to the rest of the icebergs and hit them on target. A large screen of smoke flew up as the ice instantly started to melt. The fire completely cleared the path and a large cave was instantly seen.

"There it is." Seiya declared and was shoved aside.

"Then let me drive. You kids these days." Camus declared.

Seiya gave Camus a slight face but rushed off before he was caught. He ran into Hyoga who came down the rope ladder.

"Nice driving." Hyoga remarked.

"Sorry." Seiya replied and they both headed toward the front of the ship. They reached the front just as the ship entered the cave and they were covered in darkness.

The sound of lapping water echoed all around them and lanterns were lit to try to get more light to see.

Everyone marveled at the cave of ice around them. It was smooth in structure. Not a bump or crack anywhere to be seen.

The ship sailed quietly for a few minutes until Shiryu spotted something up ahead.

"Camus, the exit is just up ahead!" he shouted.

"We need to stop the ship there! We'll have to take the subs the rest of the way!" Seiya added.

"Alright! Everyone get ready to stop the ship!" Camus ordered.

Everyone started to scramble around in order to stop the ship however they could since Seiya had already explained that the opening they were about to hit was a dead end.

The ship came into the opening and everyone was in awe at what they saw.

Giant sheets of smooth ice made a very large opening. The opening was much bigger than the arena back in Sanctuary and was large enough to let the ship do a turn around when they would leave.

The ceiling above them was just a thin layer of ice that was preventing snow from coming in but still allowing some sunlight in. The ground could be seen around the walls of ice and the light reflecting from the waters surface dancing around the room in various colors.

"This is amazing." Shina declared.

"Lower the first two submarines!" Seiya ordered.

Soldiers instantly went to the first two subs and started to lower the vessels to the waters surface just as the ship came to a stop.

Hyoga and Camus went over to the scuba equipment and started to strap on the double oxygen tanks and air masks.

Seiya climbed into the first mini submarine and Shiryu climbed into another with Dohko right behind him.

"We'll keep in touch through the radio Aiolos." Hyoga declared as he slipped on his mask and tossed himself backwards off the ship and into the water below followed by his mentor.

As soon as the subs were sealed, they dove down into the water and just floated downward a bit.

Seiya opened his little journal once his sub was completely submerged and set it carefully on the counsel.

He switched on the communication system that would allow him to speak with the others.

"Can everyone hear me?" he asked.

"_Loud and clear on this end._" Shiryu answered as the second sub came into view.

"_We can hear you too._" Hyoga added as he and Camus swam by.

"Alright then. Follow me everyone." Seiya declared as he drove the submarine down a few feet toward another opening.

Camus grabbed onto the side wing of Shiryu's sub and Hyoga grabbed a hold onto one of Seiya's.

The young Pegasus carefully maneuvered his sub through the opening that was just wide enough to allow the subs to sail through without hitting anything.

The passage way only lasted a few minutes until it finally led to an exit. Now the subs were in open water and right above them was most likely the snow covered land since they could only see white.

"Ok guys, we're going to be heading about three miles north where we'll see the first landmark." Seiya announced.

"_Roger that._" Camus replied.

_Ok, my visions and my map both say that in the next three miles there's going to be a spiral shaped rock tower leaning to one side._ Seiya thought as he kept his eyes open for the first formation.

The speed of the subs allowed the three miles to go by quickly and Seiya eventually spotted the spiral rock.

"Alright guys. That leaning rock right there is the first landmark. We're going to turn twenty degrees north west until we see a patch of different colored anemones."

"_We'll keep an eye open._" Shiryu replied as they started to turn once they reached the spiral rock.

"Ok. Let's speed up a few notches." Seiya ordered increasing the speed of his sub.

"_Alright._" Shiryu agreed. "_Hyoga. Camus. You guys doing alright?_"

"_I'm alright._" Camus answered.

"_Same here._" Hyoga added.

The continuing ride was in silence for about seven minutes until the patch of undersea flowers was spotted and Seiya gave the next coordinates to the next location.

Three landmarks from that they were near the end of the search and were close to about six miles away from the ships location.

The saints were coming to the final landmark and passed that one would be the city they've been searching for.

They passed the final landmark which was a small gathering of clams and then came to a deeper part of the sea.

Right then, the saints all spotted a large dome shape in the short distance.

"There it is everyone." Seiya announced. "The kingdom of Atlantis."

The saints were in awe at the sight.

The Ice Coffin had formed into a perfect dome shape and it was obvious why. There was a dome protecting the undersea kingdom. The dome must have been as far as the ice could have reached having come from inside.

"_It's amazing._" Camus declared and let go of the sub once they were close enough. He and Hyoga both came close to the dome that was the only thing holding the ice inside.

"The palace is somewhere in the center and that's where Degel will be. Let's try to find a possible way to enter." Seiya said.

The saints agreed and started to go their own directions to find a way to enter the frozen city.

"I can't believe that Degel really may be inside there." Dohko said looking out the glass window to search for a way inside the dome.

"Look at it this way, there's a chance that when this is all over he could be going back to Sanctuary with us." Shiryu said hoping to cheer his mentor up.

"You're right." Dohko agreed and kept searching.

Hyoga was circling around the dome trying to find something that would indicated the main entrance into the city.

While he swam he spotted something up ahead. It was an arched gateway covered with sea plants and animals. He swam over to the gateway and figured that this must have been the main entrance he was looking for.

He came up to the dome and started looking around. The ice was a bit hard to see through and he could mainly see shadows outlining buildings. He went a little to his right in hopes of finding something else when he gasped at what he saw next.

[]

The others were searching but weren't coming up with any good possibilities when Hyoga's voice suddenly shouted over the communicators.

"_Guys! I found something!_"

"Calm down Hyoga. What did you find?" Camus asked as they started to head toward Hyoga.

"_You'll see what I mean when you get here!_"

Shiryu and Dohko were the first to reach Hyoga and Dohko right away felt his heart skip a beat when he saw what Hyoga found.

"That's…"

[][][]

Aiolos and the others were waiting for any kind of sign from the others or a signal from the radio.

The group of five had been in the icy ocean for a little over two hours and he was wondering what was taking them so long.

Aiolos saw Shura was about to yell when a sudden static noise alerted them.

"_..ome..n._"

Aiolos hurried over and used the radio the way Shiryu had shown him.

"Seiya, is that you. I can't make out what you're saying." Aiolos said and let go of the button.

"_Can you hear me now?_" the voice asked clearly.

"Yes, I can hear you perfectly. Have you found anything?"

"_We found something alright and we're almost back to the ship. Have everyone ready to bring us up and get the black mirror ready to contact Shun. We're going to need a spot ready for the one we found._"

"You heard what he said." Aiolos shouted and saw everyone get ready to have things ready before turning back to the radio. "We're going to be ready and waiting Seiya."

"_Alright. See you in two minutes._" Seiya replied. "_Over and out._"

Aiolos put the radio microphone down and watched as the soldiers started to set up a spot ready to receive the person that the others were bringing.

Something about what Seiya said didn't make sense to Aiolos though. He said '_for the one we found_'.

Naturally everyone would think that he would mean Degel but then why hadn't he said his name? Right then Aiolos remembered something else that Seiya had mentioned before the voyage had started.

He had mentioned that Kardia had been near Atlantis when it was frozen and was never seen again.

What if _Kardia_ was the one they found?

He didn't have time to further think about it since he soon heard the sound of bubbles rushing to the surface and that could only mean that the others were almost there.

He hurried over to the side of the ship where Milo, Mu and Shura were waiting.

Looking over the side, Aiolos easily spotted air bubbles rushing to the surface and soon saw two different shadows appear. First they were small and then they grew larger until Camus and Hyoga finally broke through the surface.

"Are you guys alright?" Shura asked as Mu used his telekinetic powers to lift the two from the water.

"We're fine." Camus answered removing the oxygen mask as they were gently placed on the floor of the ship.

"Did you find Degel?" Milo asked.

"Not exactly." Camus answered removing his oxygen tanks.

"Then…what did you find?" Mu asked as another noise suddenly caught their hearing.

Seiya's submarine had just surfaced along with Shiryu and Dohko shortly after. Not wasting time, Seiya opened his sub.

"Mu, quick, bring us up." he shouted moving to the second seat where another person was located.

Mu complied and used his powers to bring Seiya, Shiryu, Dohko and the unknown person up onto the slip. Once on the floor, Seiya quickly laid the mysterious person on the mat that had been readied.

"But isn't that…" Milo gasped.

"Scorpio Kardia." Dohko finished.

Everyone's eyes were on the previous saint of Scorpio. He looked very much like Milo but there were some differences. He looked a bit older than Milo and he also looked like he had a more playful nature.

"Where did you find him?" one of the Silver Saints asked.

"Hyoga found him near the main city gateway." Shiryu answered. "We managed to get him out and bring him back as quickly as we could."

"Well, we have the black mirror but will it work for Kardia?" Shura asked holding the round mirror.

"He's right." Aiolos added. "Shun agreed to let Degel and Seraphina return but we never thought that we would find Kardia."

"Maybe Shun will let Kardia's soul return." Hyoga suggested. "Like Degel, Kardia was never laid to rest and his soul could have just been wandering around in limbo. We should at least try."

The others nodded and Shura looked at the mirror.

"Shun of the Underworld. We ask for your help in returning this man's soul." he said and the mirror instantly started to glow a soft golden light.

The light flowed from the mirror and flowed directly onto Kardia, engulfing his entire body. The light stayed on Kardia for a few seconds before it slowly faded away.

The saints all watched as Kardia's cold pale skin color slowly turned into a usual tan color. They were all in awe when they saw his chest start to rise and fall as he started breathing.

"He's alive." Dohko declared kneeling next to his old friend.

"We should get him into a cabin until he's got his strength back." Camus advised.

"Right." Aiolos agreed as Dohko collected his friend in his arms and they went to the lower decks of the ship.

Hyoga looked to his left and saw Shiryu had that look on his face. The look of thought he always had when he was thinking about something that might not be right.

"Something on your mind Shiryu?" he asked.

"Well, Shun agreed to let Degel come back. What if the light we just saw was a soul and what if it was Degel's soul because Shun thought we might have found Degel?"

Hyoga and Seiya gasped.

"So, you think that Degel's soul might be inside Kardia's body?" Seiya asked.

"Just a possibility." Shiryu answered. "But that might be what happened since none of us knew we would find Kardia. We should just wait and see when Kardia comes around."


End file.
